


Past Saturday Night

by knifelesbian



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Jealous Chase, chase stein/gert yorkes - Freeform, karolina the flying lesbian makes an appearance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-17 04:33:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13069227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knifelesbian/pseuds/knifelesbian
Summary: Alternatively titled: Chase Fucks Up But Actually It's Fine





	Past Saturday Night

1.  
Its after a meeting when he realizes. The six of them are sitting in a circle at Timely trying to make a decision for once, arguing over who's house to go to first to look for a book they'd heard their parents talking about.

"Okay, how about we split into groups of two, check three houses, then get back together to check mine and Karolina's houses?" 

Everyone nods, and Alex continues, "Okay, so Nico and I will go to her house, Karolina and Molly will go to Molly's, and Gert and Chase will go to his house. Set? Okay, let's go." Karolina stares after Nico as she leaves, only looking away when Molly nudges her shoulder. God, Chase is so glad he backed off; it clearly was never going to go anywhere. 

Gert stands up, and of course he follows her out they get to their cars, then pause.

"Your car or mine?" Chase shouldn't blush, because that does not sound dirty, why did he even think that, what the hell.

"Uh, if you think I'm passing up a chance to ride in the fanciest sports car of the century, you are sadly mistaken, my friend."

Friend. That sounds nice. He wishes he'd never said that they weren't. He wishes that he wasn't so fucking stupid.

Because that's what he is, right? He can design gloves that shoot fire but not know when a girl isn't into him, not know how to deal with how he feels about his father, not know how to deal with liking Gert.

Woah, WHAT?

The wheel jerks in his hands, almost sending them off the road, and he decides to focus on driving instead of this- this revelation.

"Dude, be careful. Jeez, Karolina is a better driver than you."

Oh right, Gert is in the car with him. Shit. Can't he deal with his feelings in peace? He keeps his eyes on the road, determined not to look at her, her soft face and gorgeous hair that always looks good- he has to take fifteen minutes every morning to get his hair to look marginally fine, and she pulls a hairbrush through it and she looks like she just stepped off a Pantene commercial set. It's unfair, is what it is.

"Hey, I resent that." Okay, this is good. Playful banter is good. Not revealing just discovered feelings is good.

"Why? Don't you think she's perfect or something?" Oh, shit. Chase wishes he had spidey sense like that vigilante up in New York, then he'd know when he was about to get caught in a complicated bit of conversation.

"Not really. We're friends, you know? And I mean, Karolina is great, and everything, but.....I don't feel that way about her. At least, not anymore."

"Oh."

Yes, oh.

2.  
Chase doesn't like the way Gert makes his heart feel. The record speed pounding whenever they're alone, the way it feels like his heart is being squeezed too tight whenever he sees her with someone else.....it's almost physically painful. 

Like right now. They're at Timely, helping each with homework, and she's flirting with some floppy haired barista while she waits for their drinks (sugar hopped coffee for her, decaf for him), which she'd decided would be a good incentive for him to work on his Spanish. She'd told him to look over his notes while she grabbed the coffee, but he couldn't bring himself to focus. Like, at all. He's pretty sure he hasn't taken his eyes off Gert since she got up from the chair across from him.

Predictably, as soon as she starting talking to the barista, Chase's heart started up the oh-so painful squeezing. And really, he could just look away. But she's just so bright. Smiling and talking and being so irreplaceably Gert that he doesn't even care that it's not directed at him. Except, that's stupid, because of course he does. He's green eyed monster levels of jealous. If Gert were talking to him instead of that dumb barista and also could read his mind she'd probably say that that's his teenage boy brain talking. But whatever, Chase is actually a teenage boy, so, suck it.

Upon realizing that he's pseudo-arguing with Gert in his head when she is literally, actually, ten feet away from him, Chase gets up and walks over, plucking his drink out of her hand, and takes a sip.

"So I was totally hyped to see it , then- Chase. I was just about to come back to our table, you could have waited another minute."

"Yes, but then I wouldn't have this sweet, sweet coffee in my hands. Also, I accidentally took yours and that is a lot of sugar."

She snatches it back and hands him his coffee, giving him her patented 'you're a dummy but you're being really cute about it' look. At least, that's what he hopes it means.

The barista catches his eye, and, dejectedly, goes to serve a customer.

3.  
Gert has never looked more stunning in her entire life, Chase is sure of it.

She's walking down the aisle, the train of her dress trailing behind her, and she's positively glowing. He can see her hands shake as they clutch the yellow rose bouquet- Karolina had said that yellow represents eternal happiness, or something, so they'd gone with that.

All their friends are seated in the pews, dressed in their Sunday best for the (secretly named by Chase) Best Wedding Of All Time. Nico even wore a colour other than black, though Karolina had had to wager something to do so- Chase still isn't sure what. 

She's in front of him, now, and the ceremony starts. They'd asked Alex to do the ceremony only a few weeks before the wedding (poor planning) but at least he was, for some reason, already ordained at 23 years old. He's ridiculously emotional all the way through, and so is Gert, in that way where she's trying really hard not to be too sappy. Chase already is too sappy, but he doesn't care; His vows dive deep into that sappiness, actually, and hers aren't much past it. Chase isn't sure when he started crying, but he just can't seem to stop.

He's so unbelievably happy.

And then he wakes up.

He wipes the tears away, and grabs his phone. 4: 23 AM. Dammit. He really needs to stop this. Since he'd had his World's Biggest Dumbass moment a few weeks ago and realized just how much he likes Gert, he's been having this same dream every night, with more details added on every time he falls asleep like a twenty car pileup of 'I have feelings for Gertrude Yorkes'.

He considers calling her, just to get her voice out of his head, but it's past four in the morning, there's no possible way that she's awake, and calling would just piss her off.

But then she's calling him, which is so unprecedented that he almost forgets to pick up the phone. He does pick up, though, because he does have a few brain cells still alive up there.

"Did you know that Molly has started making a harness for my dinosaur?" he can only kind of see Gert in the dark of her room on the video call, but her voice is somehow jittery and dead tired all at once.

"What, really?"

"Yeah, she wants to ride her. For fun. Ugh, sisters." 

Chase stifles a laugh, and lets her go on about an argument they'd had today. He's glad he doesn't have a light on, or he's sure that he'd look ridiculously heartsick.

"Yeah, so Molly really wants to go see it, but I told her sitting in a dark theatre for a couple of hours just the two of us would turn us into sitting ducks, and she said not to overthink, but-"

"You're overthinking it?"

"Yes! And it's totally unlike me to be so paranoid, but after what happened with Alex....."

"No, I get it. If you want......I could go with you? To the movie? If it would make you feel better." Oh Jesus. Did he really just do that? Oh Jesus.

"Yeah, it would make me feel better, actually. Safety in numbers and all that, right?"

"Right." Oh god.

"Wait, Chase. What time is it?"

"About 4:40? Why?"

"Wow, my insomnia reaches new heights. Sorry for waking you up."

"you didn't, I was already awake."

"Bad dream?"

"More like complicated dream." She makes a questioning noise, and he realizes that he probably shouldn't have said that. Gert is definitely going to want to know what he's talking about.

"Uhmm, I should go, gotta get some semblance of sleep, bye Gert!"

And then he hangs up. Phew. That was close.

4.  
The movie theatre is dark, and kind of crowded. Gert is sitting in between him and Molly, who is watching the movie avidly. It's some overcomplicated horror movie that neither he nor Gert has been able to pay attention to. They've been quietly throwing popcorn at each other since the movie started.

"Guys," Molly whispers when a piece of popcorn hits her, "Pay attention!"

They turn back to the movie, a little guiltily, and attempt to follow the plot.

Ten minutes later, Chase yawns and stretches his arm back, back, back over the top of Gert's seat. It's, to be honest, the cheesiest thing he's ever done. Gert's shoulders tense, then she leans against him, just a little, and it makes him want to jump for joy. 

He catches Molly's eye over Gert's head, and sees she's trying not laugh. Like, really trying (It's not working very well). He glares at her, tries to be intimidating as possible, but she's still giggling. Whatever.

He moves his hand, minutely, up and down her shoulder. If this was literally any other girl he would have kissed her by now. Gotten it over with, been together.

But she's not any other girl. She's Gert. Gert, with the opinions and snark and her own unique brand of perfect that Chase still hasn't figured out how not to be affected by.

He can't just make out with her, out of the blue and unprecedented. He has to let it build, let them get closer and closer, before he asks her quietly, softly, when they're all alone, if he can kiss her.

He knows that that's sappy, to plan out how he wants to ask her out (if he ever does), but he really can't bring himself to care. He wants to have a plan, it helps him compartmentalize how he feels. Although that's probably not healthy, to be honest......

"Hey, are you okay?" Gert whispers. She looks concerned.

"Um, yeah, yes. I am. Why?"

She reaches up and softly smoothes her thumb over the crease between his eyebrows; His eyes fall closed.

She pulls back her hand, seeming to realize what she's doing.

"You looked worried, that's all."

5.  
"How long have you liked Gert, again?"

"About two months- wait, Jesus. I didn't mean to tell you that."

Karolina laughs. "Which is why I tried to catch you off guard with it. It's okay, though. I'm not going to tell her, though I do think you should." they're drinking together on Karolina's terrace, a break from all that's been going on. Unhealthy coping mechanisms for the win!

"Oh, no-o way. Nuh-uh. Not a chance. If I tell her, and she doesn't like me back, which she won't, because she at most only finds me attractive and thats it, it will ruin our friendship, which I don't want to do because then the group might get messed up, which we can't afford, because our parents are fucking murderers! Yeah!" he takes another big swig of vodka, and she follows his lead, though she chugs more than sips because she's drinking rosé in a can, the genius.

Karolina, bless her, moves past his mini meltdown to say, "Oh, she finds you attractive? And you noticed? Where was this observant Chase Stein when you were convinced you were into me?" she nudges him, teasing. She's definitely tipsy, sober Karolina is too sincere about things to make fun of anyone.

"Where was he when I kissed you? Jesus, I was dumb."

"True, so true." they clink their drinks together in camaraderie.

"Hey."

"Hey, what?"

"You should call her." for a girl that looks so angelic, Karolina sure does have a devil's smile.

"No, I should not."

"Yes, you should, but if you won't, I will!"

She pulls out her phone, tugging off her bracelet and shooting into the sky before he can grab the phone from her.

She lies horizontal, three feet above him at standing height, just out of his reach.

"Gertie!! Hi, sweet cheeks, how you doing?"

"Uh, well, you're drunk calling me at 1 AM so..." oh Jesus, she put her on speakerphone.

"Karolina, oh my god, hang up!"

"Not until you talk to her!" he's trying to grab at her sweater and pull her down but it is Not Working.

"Is that Chase?" her voice is sort of crinkly through the phone, but it's definitely her. Chase doesn't have enough luck for Karolina to call the wrong number.

He sits down again. He's not going to get her to come down, and the alcohol is starting to make him dizzy.

"Yes! Here, talk to him."

"Oh my god, Karolina, what the shit!" he says as he sprints to catch the phone before it smashes on the ground into a million pieces.

"Heyyy, Gert."

"Hi? What was that?"

"Karolina just yote her phone at me and I had to go catch it."

"Did you just use 'yeet' in the past tense?"

"....Yes." he's drunker than he thought he was, Jesus.

"Do you need a ride or something or am I just Karolina's drunk dial?"

"He needs a ride!" Karolina says, swooping down and practically yelling into his ear.

"Jesus, Karolina, way to give me a heart attack."

"Oh, you poor, poor, baby. Anyways, Gert, yes, he would like a ride. It's late, anyways. We're at my house, see you then!"

And then she hangs up.

"What, pray tell, the fuck, Karolina."

Gert gets to the house 20 minutes later, parking in her parents beat up monstrosity. 

"And that's my cue," Karolina says, getting up, "Bye, Gert! See ya later!" 

Gert sits down next to him and pushes a bottle of water into his hands.

"So vodka, huh? I always thought you were more of a scotch kind of guy." she says as he swallows it down.

He puts the now half empty bottle aside and says, "I am, but I can't drink scotch out of the bottle without making a face. Vodka, though, I have perfected my reaction too, so I can drink and still look cool."

"Chase, dude, never once has anyone thought you cool. Come on, let's go."

"Okay, but I want you to know that what you just said was offensive and hurt my feelings. You're going to have fight for my forgiveness."

"I'm making sure you don't walk home, isn't that enough?"

"Hmm, maybe."

They drive in relative silence, save for bursts of quiet banter. When they reach his house, he grabs her hand and thanks her.

"It was really nice of you, you're so nice, thanks again." (he's still kind of drunk.)

And then, he does the unthinkable.

He leans in, slowly, and presses his lips to hers, softly, a whisper of a touch.

But he still kissed her.

He's halfway up the drive before he realizes what he's done.

+1.  
He wakes up the next morning and promptly freaks the fuck out.

Well, actually, untrue. First he takes an aspirin for his hangover. Then he freaks out.

Because, really, what was he thinking? He had a plan. He had a specific way he wanted to do that. And then he went and just kissed her, out of the blue, unprecedented, exactly the way he hadn't wanted to do it.

She definitely knew he liked her, now.

Monday he goes out of his way to avoid her, even though he shouldn't. He makes sure he doesn't cross paths with her, and he makes it until he gets pulled into a broom closet on the way to fourth period.

"What the- Oh. Hey, Gert."

"......Hi." she's fiddling with the hem of her shirt, like she always does when she's nervous.

"Um, Gert. I want to apologize. What I did Saturday night....that wasn't okay. I shouldn't have kissed you out of the blue like that," he had a plan, "It's okay if you don't want to talk to me for a while, I guess." 

She looks down, shoulders hunched. He wishes he wasn't responsible for her acting this way, wishes she wasn't upset.

"You know, in case my feelings for you make you.....uncomfortable, or whatever." Chase leans against the door, getting ready to flee the scene and recuperate on Mars, or something.

"Woah, you actually have feelings for me? Shit, I totally thought you were messing with me or you were just too drunk, or whatever-" He reaches out and squeezes her arm.

"Gert. You're literally the coolest, most unique girl I've ever met. I think you're gorgeous and smart and awesome and way too good for me. But I," he pulls back, "I get that you don't feel that way, and I'll back off. I promise."

"Well, you....you shouldn't."

And then she kisses him. 

It's not perfect. It's a little messy, and he has to lean down so she isn't on her tiptoes. But then he changes the angle, and her hand goes in his hair as he wraps his arms around her.

They miss fourth period. Chase can't say he cares much, though. 

 

FIN

**Author's Note:**

> title is from Etta James' Sunday Kind Of Love. thanks for reading!


End file.
